I've posted this before, however my little brother's going off to University of Wyoming with a full scholarship and some sort of honors program. I really, really want to be close to him (and I love the Denver/Wyoming area as does he), however am really concerned about taking Wyoming (even with full scholarship) over Arizona, Iowa and Kansas.

I'm not aiming for biglaw, so I'd be happy with a small firm where I can be part of the team and make partner. CU and UW rejected me, I'm pending at Utah, and I'm not keen on a large school like Denver.

U Arizona's on the border which leaves me concerned, Kansas is a great atmosphere yet not portable and Iowa is highly ranked and would be hard to turn down yet it's in the midwest and I'm not fond of the midwest and would want to go back out west/southwest in any case.

Anyone else familiar with U Wyoming? How much would I be shooting myself in the foot?

I would go wherever you want to practice. I think it is nearly that simple. I think that is even more applicable because you are not going to schools that are ranked very well. If you were going to a T14 school then location wouldn't be as big of a deal. But because your schools are lower ranked there is a much bigger advantage going to local schools.

You must drive incredibly fast. The distance between Denver and Laramie is 140-145 miles, depending on if you go by Mapquest or by someone who drives there frequently and looks at their odometer. Either way, you are going incredibly fast, around 140. That is not smart to go that fast, especially in an Escort.

I think they disabled the housing app because it was telling people who was admitted and who wasn't.

But when your application goes from "complete/ready for review" to blank there it seems that does mean you are accepted or rejected. I think they disabled the housing app because they wanted to tell folks if they got in or not.

Thanks for all the info. Denver is my top choice but it's $100,000 more than Buffalo. Because they are equally ranked, the practical side of me thinks I should choose Buffalo... but having spent my childhood in Rochester I find W. NY such a cold/snowy/boring place the thought depresses me.

The cost of Denver definitely scares me and i'm looking for some assurance that it's manageable, and that Denver has a solid network for landing well-paying jobs after graduating - even if i'm not in the top percentile. Thoughts from DU students?

I got the e-mail from Denver w/ the estimates on financial aid and it's all loans - no grants/scholarships/etc. I really dont know a lot about paying off huge loans, but what kind of trouble to DU students have after graduating as far as paying off this debt? Im planning on studying international law, as opposed to the more financially rewarding corporate law.

I'm actually a New York resident so the choice is coming down to Buffalo which is a miserable place, but cheap vs. Denver which is an area that i would love to live in... but would graduate with painful debt. But surely i can't be the only one going to Denver without scholarships - how does everyone else do it?

Thanks!

I think the majority of people have a hard time when they graduate. But let's face it, if you make around 70,000 dollars a year and you have a 1,700 monthly payment for your loans you are still bringing in a decent amount of money after the fact. You won't be able to buy the nice house that you imagine attorney's living in, but you will be able to buy a house. You will have to do it like the rest of the population does, you buy a small, less-than-desirable house when you graduate and then you upsize 15 years later. Not that you only think about houses, but you get the idea. I think the vast majority are able to live just fine.

But it is something to think about. I get nervous about it too. I am getting 15K a year but when I look at the debt I will still take out it is quite sobering. I have a wife and two kids also so the cost of living is incredibly high when it is all through loans. Also, I think I read that 25 of students at DU get scholarships, so the vast majority of the students are paying full tuition.

Well, your unwillingness to let go of the dream should show admissions committees that you are serious.

Your LSAT scores are troubling, particularly because of the fact that you took it three times and didn't see a large improvement. Just familiarity to the test and situations should have boosted your score a little more.